The new cultivar is the result of a chance discovery in a garden in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. The inventors, Lyle and Phyllis Sarrazin, citizens of Canada, discovered the new variety as a naturally occurring chance seedling growing in a garden of the parent variety, the unpatented Dicentra spectabilis. The discovery was made in the Spring of 2005.
After selecting and isolating the new cultivar, asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘HORDIVAL’ was first performed by division during the Fall of 2005, in Prince George, British Columbia. ‘HORDIVAL’ has since produced several generations and has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.